Kritikal Bacolod

The Visayas is quickly becoming the center of all things bright and beautiful in the Philippines. This is in terms of tourism, culture and the economy. I spent the last few weeks in our middle islands, hopping from island to island for purposes of all three: as a tourist, on business (designing resort sites) and for culture. My next few columns will be about these but I’ll start with my trip to Bacolod from April 21 to 26.

This is the second year in a row for me to be invited to Kritika, a national workshop on art and cultural criticism. Kritika and its parallel Iyas Creative Writing Workshop are both organized by the De La Salle University Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center (DLSU-BNSCWC), and sponsored by the DLSU Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the University of St. La Salle-Bacolod (USLS). USLS served as our host for the week.

I looked forward to the trip for the workshop itself (I was tapped to serve as panelist in the discipline of architecture and design) as well as for the sights and good eats in Bacolod and neighboring towns and cities.

The workshop was designed to provide a venue for critical discourse between established critics and writers from across several cultural disciplines. The workshop was led by Rolando Tolentino, dean of the University of the Philippines-Diliman (UPD) College of Mass Communication and DLSU-BNSCWC associate for criticism, and managed by Shirley Lua, director of the DLSU-BNSCWC with the assistance of Karla Pacis of the same institution.

The 2013 Kritika fellows were Ronn Andrew F. Angeles (literature); John Michael de la Paz (visual arts); Glenn H. Diaz (literature); Wennielyn F. Fajilan (literature); Cheeno Marlo Sayuno (dance); Carlo Pacolor Garcia (theater), Skilty Labastilla (film); Rowell Madula (pop culture); Raul C. Navarro (music and history); and Manuel Agustin Singson (architecture).

The lively discussions were steered with the aid of established authors and critics, who included workshop director Tolentino, the erudite writer and fellow STAR columnist, Isagani R. Cruz (pop culture); the wry Isidoro M. Cruz (literature); the inimitable Cid Reyes (visual arts); the ebullient Jazmin Llana (performing arts); the colourful Lito B. Zulueta (cinema); a brooding José Victor Torres (cultural history) and yours truly for architecture. Kibitzing as architectural critic was Prof. Rene Luis Mata of the UP College of Architecture.

It took a while for me to get into the academic mode but once the discussions started going, it was like riding a bike (although my head started to spin catching up on jargon and current discourse language). I was, of course, most interested in the architectural paper on heritage conservation. Agustin Singson, a cultural worker for the Baglan Art & Culture Initiatives Inc., tackled the ethics of preservation as practiced by Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar.

The other pieces included Glenn Diaz’s “From Allies to ‘It’s Complicated”' as he looked at “the ambivalent history of US-Philippine relations as presented in three short stories.” Ronn Angeles’ piece “To Speak from the Eye of the Wound” sought to put in perspective the various forms of “cultural trauma” in Philippine literature. Carlo Garcia’s work “Joaquin’s Portrait: A Primer to Murder” and “Tatlong Pagtatanghal” compared the written and performed ouvre of Joaquin; while Wen Fajilan’s “Ang Pagbabanyuhay ng Mga ‘Bayani’ ni Ka Amado: Ang Panitikang Anakpawis bilang Panitikang Panghinaharap” presented a biographical and political history based on Amado V. Hernandez’s various revisions of his poem “Bayani.”

Raul Navarro, graduate coordinator for the UP College of Music, got us all singing the songs of martial law. Cheeno Sayuno, a dancer with the Sanghaya Dance Ensemble, got us on our feet with a look at Philippine cultural dances through a feminist lens. 

Skilty Labastilla presented a review of the movies Sayaw Ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa, Mnl 143 and This Guy’s in Love with U Mare! John Michael De La Paz’s Of Monkeys, Turtles, and Thumbs drew a critique of Hubert Fucio’s children’s-book illustrations. Finally, Rowell Madula’s “Kumanta, Tumawa, Magsaya: Pagsusuri at Paggamit ng Mga Awitin ni Michael V. para sa Edukasyong Pangkasarian” was a most enjoyable mash-up discourse of the zany song parodies of comedian/singer Michael V. 

There was a lot of interaction between Kritika panelists, and the Iyas creative-writing workshop participants for even more cross-fertilization.  The two groups were treated to a special screening of Jay Abello’s fascinating Pureza: The Story of Negros Sugar. There was also a book launch by Marjorie Evasco of her collaboration with Cuban poet Alex Fleites, Fishes of Light: Tanrenga in Two Tongues/ Peces de Luz: Tanrengas en Dos Idiomas.

A great time was had by all at the workshops. We interspersed the proceedings with trips to the city and beyond. We visited the art district and met Bacolod artists led by the hospitable Charlie Co. We motored down to the art deco city of Silay and also paid homage to the Angry Christ in Victorias.

The organizers should be commended for these workshops. It is good to see new talent emerge, all of who are marching bravely into the breech of cultural criticism. Without critics and criticism all of our cultural disciplines will never improve or move forward. To be critical is to be aware that we have miles to go before we sleep. And every night after a good steaming dish of batchoy, that’s what we all did.

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Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.